Caught Up in a Storm
by therealjainasolo
Summary: Storm Reynolds is a pretty messed up teenager, with a small(ish) criminal record and an appearance that stands out. She lives at the DG and has done for five years. Follow her and her best mate Liam (who she may or may not have a crush on) as they struggle through their lives. Being a care kid is never easy, especially when you're Storm. Read and Review. LiamxOC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well this is a new story, with my new OC! Just a few heads up; there is no Elektra at the moment and Frank and Liam are friends-ish. Liam and Storm are closer. Doesn't follow TBR much, but includes references. Anything you recognise does not belong to me!**

**Updates won't be terribly quick, as I have lots of other fics on the go. I know I shouldn't put this up until the others are done, but inspiration was there.**

**Enjoy, and let me know what you think!**

**PS. Check out my blog for extra info and pictures. The link is on my profile.**

**Jaina xx**

Sighing, I hoisted the rucksack over my shoulder, and followed Liam over to the stall, muttering a bunch of swear words under my breath. One look at that stall told me how stupid he had been. It was in the corner of the market, deep in the land of Dodgy Stalls; the ones that sold alcohol in Cola cans, and drugs disguised as sweets. And all to return a bunch of dodgy DVD's. That was why we were here; my idiot best friend had gone and brought a bunch of obviously pirated DVD's, watched them and seen how rubbish they were, and now he wanted his money back. And my stupid best mate's name? Liam O'Donovan, scammer extraordinaire. And also complete and utter muppet.

"Chill out Storm!" Liam whispered. "All we 'ave to do is ask politely for our money back, and leave!"

"Uh, excuse me? I think you'll find that _you _will be asking for _my _money back!" I retorted angrily. "And somehow, I don't think asking politely will be enough." Liam grinned and threw an arm around my shoulders. I looked at it disdainfully, before shrugging it off. Liam placed a hand on his chest, looking wounded, but after a second he took it off and grinned. I couldn't help but grin back.

"It'll be fine!" he reassured me, before grabbing the rucksack and heading over to the stall. There were two stallholders; a short, yet tough looking middle-aged bloke who looked like a biker, with tattoos across his neck, a brown beard with green streaks and a nose ring, and a small, petite blond woman wearing a pink jumper and smiling at Liam and me. She didn't belong on this stall at all, looking far too fragile and…_kind. _She looked like she could be my mum, not that I knew my mum, having only a picture to remember her by. Of course, Liam approached her, grinning like a Cheshire cat, and even from where I was standing at the other end of the stall, pretending to browse whilst Biker Dude eyed me suspiciously, I knew that he was trying to charm this woman into giving his…sorry, my…money back. And it seemed to be working.

Until Biker Dude gave up trying to watch me and instead stalked over to Liam and the blonde woman. Even from here, I could hear his voice, and trust me, he sounded anything but pleasant.

"And, what's this? Trying to get your money back you little tyke, are ya?" he boomed. Liam grimaced, and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a word out, I butted in.

"And what if he is?" I asked, sidling up to Liam and raising a threatening eyebrow at Biker Dude. He snorted at me, and was about to say something, but instead closed his mouth and smiled at me. He leaned over and whispered something in the blonde woman's ear. Her eyes widened, and she tried to peek over our heads, before nodding at him. I glanced at Liam, trying to see if he knew what was going on, but he seemed just as confused as I was. Then, without warning, Biker Dude grabbed the blonde woman by her arm, and together they sprinted off, ducking and weaving through the stall until they were out of sight, leaving Liam and I to stare after them. It took a few seconds before either of us said anything, still too confused to the couple's sudden disappearance. But, it was Liam who spoke first.

"Well, at least you get your money back!" he exclaimed.

"That I do!" I grinned, snatching the money box off of the counter and taking back my money, stashing the notes in the pocket of my purple hoodie. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I knew it couldn't be Liam, because he was standing next to me, with an equal look of horror on his face. There was a hand on his shoulder too. Slowly, I turned around, and groaned when I saw who…or should I say, what…was standing in front of me. Glaring at me with raised eyebrows was a police officer. And one I knew far too well. P.C. Derek Hamley, the officer who had arrested me…a lot.

"Storm Reynolds? (As if he had to ask…) I am arresting you on suspicion of handling stolen goods."

"What?!" I exclaimed furiously. Hamley took no notice, instead continuing his usual spiel. "But I ain't done anything! Those DVD's aren't mine!"

And it all fell into place. Why Biker Dude and the blonde lady had run away. They had seen the car pull up behind us, and knew that they were going to be arrested, so had decided to jump ship and let us take the blame. All I knew was that I was in deep, deep trouble, and that I would be lucky if I got off with anything lighter that a few weeks in a young offenders unit, with druggies… and murderers. I gave an involuntary shudder at the thought.

I knew that yelling at Hamley that I was innocent or attempting to make a break for it would only make things worse, so I held out my wrists. And anyway, there was no way I could leave Liam behind. His criminal record was just as bad as my own.

"Go on," I sighed, watching as he clipped on the handcuffs. "Here, Liam, don't they look good?" I smirked, holding out my hands for Liam to inspect. "Handcuff bracelets!"

Liam laughed, as a middle aged, female officer cuffed him. "Beautiful!"

Hamley growled in frustration. "Can't you two take this seriously?" he boomed. I said nothing, only meeting his glare head on, and raising an eyebrow. He sighed angrily, before grabbing me by the cuff of my collar and practically dragging me to the car. I considered screaming that this could be classed as abuse, but then I saw the crowd that had gathered, so I gulped and shut my mouth. Hamley opened the door and nearly threw me inside, his colleague following with Liam. She watched Hamley get in the front, and took one look at me, before wrinkling her nose.

"Nice hair," She sneered, before pushing Liam into the seat next to mine. I snorted; she could hardly talk. Her hair was dull, and tied into a tight bun, which she had pushed her hat on top of.

"Thanks," I called, an equal amount of sarcasm lacing my words, as I watched her get in the passenger seat in front of Liam.

Loads of people commented on my hair, because it didn't exactly look…_normal. _My natural hair colour was brown, but I had dyed it black and cut it to collarbone length with several layers. That was normal enough. But the one thing that made my hair stand out was the bright purple streaks in it. My eyes weren't exactly normal either. They were my namesake. My eyes were a mixture of grey, sea green and ice blue, and when I was angry, they would get darker. Liam said they reminded him of a stormy ocean. But they were definitely my best feature and they gave me the name Storm Maia Ocean Reynolds.

Overall, my appearance made me stand out, but I really couldn't care less. At least I didn't dress oddly (*cough* Carmen *cough*). My average outfit was skinny jeans, a graphic t-shirt, converse trainers and a hoodie.

"I'm sorry," Liam whispered, his voice tickling my ear. I turned away from the window that I had been staring out of and smiled sadly at him.

"It isn't your fault," I reassured him. Liam stared at me for a couple of seconds, trying to work out if I meant what I said. When he saw that I did, he smiled back, before turning to look out of his window.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence. Liam and I were staring out of our respective windows, wondering at our fate. Hamley was glaring at the road, and his colleague was busy applying, wiping off and reapplying lip gloss. After the longest ten minutes of my life, we pulled up at the station.

* * *

I kept squirming in my seat, the plastic cold, hard, and incredibly uncomfortable. Mike was sitting next to me, and I could see him eyeing me out of the corner of his eye. He was disappointed in us, very disappointed. What made things worse was the fact that he hadn't said a word to me since he arrived, only given me "The Look". To be honest, I didn't blame him. How many times had Liam and I promised him that we wouldn't end up getting arrested again? And how many times had we broken that promise? I wished the ground would just swallow me up, erasing every memory everyone had of me, because then I wouldn't have to face the long line of disappointed faces. I knew that I should be telling him that Liam and I were innocent of what the police accused us of, but every time I tried, the words got stuck in my throat. And what could I say? That we were returning pirated DVD's? Like that would go down any better.

We were sitting in the reception area, waiting for Liam to come out of his interview. I looked around us, feeling that the grey colour of the walls reflected how I felt. A female officer was sitting behind a desk, and she kept eyeing me, as if she was convinced I was about to do a runner. My interview hadn't exactly gone well. I had tried to tell them what had happened, that we were innocent, but the only thing they picked up on was the fact that we had in our possession pirated DVD's. I couldn't listen to music to pass the time either, since they had taken my phone to "check".

After a few minutes, I heard the door open, and a very disgruntled looking Liam came out, followed closely by Hamley. He gently pushed Liam into the seat next to Mike, before walking over to the desk, gesturing for Mike to follow him. Mike sighed, before getting out of his seat, and wandering over to Hamley. I tried to listen in on their conversation, straining my ears to see what the verdict was. But they were too far away, and their voices were lowered, as if they knew I was eavesdropping. The only thing I could make out was Hamley's disturbing grin and Mike's frown, which only meant something bad.

Sighing, I leant back in my seat, and crossed my arms over my chest. That was it. I was going to a youth offenders unit for sure. Perhaps, if I asked nicely enough, they would let Liam be my cell mate? Yeah right… Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Liam glancing at me, checking to see if I was okay. My eyes burned with tears, but I refused to cry. I hadn't cried at Burneywood, and I wouldn't cry now. Even prison could not be worse than _Burneywood. _

After a few minutes, Mike came back ever to us, Hamley hovering behind him. He was rubbing his forehead, a thing I had seen him do when stressed. Mike seemed to be doing that a lot when around us.

"Okay, guys. The police have decided charge you with handling stolen goods, but they are going to let you leave on bail…" Mike started, his voice quiet. Liam immediately shot up, a grin gracing his features. I held up a hand, sensing there was more Mike had to say.

"And?" I asked, fearing the worst.

"And," Mike sighed. "You have to go to court in a few weeks. Then, and only then, will you be punished."

Liam visibly deflated, and sank back into his chair. Neither of us knew what to say, so sat in silence for a few minutes.

"What's the worst that will happen?" I asked finally. I directed my question at Mike, but it was Hamley who answered. And of course, I already knew what the answer was going to be, but Hamley confirmed my fears.

"Young offenders unit."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: Well here is chapter 2. Enjoy and please review! xx**

The ride back to the Dumping Ground was just as silent as the one to the station, except from this time it was Mike in the front and not Hamley and his colleague. All I could think about was those three words, swirling around and around in my brain.

"_Young offenders unit. Young offenders unit. Young offenders…"_

Of course, I was no stranger to police stations, police officers and even the holding cells, but never, _never, _had the prospect of actually being put in an offenders unit had come up. Normally, it was a "_you'd better not do this again!" _lecture from Mike, or if it was particularly bad, Gina, but they had never mentioned _this _before.

As the car drew up outside of the Dumping Ground, the home I had been living it for the past five years, I noticed Gina standing in the doorway, staring at us. I had been expecting her to be frowning, her eyes blazing with anger. But her face was devoid of any emotion. She didn't even march up to the car when it stopped. I expected some sort of explosion, but…nothing. Tracy was nowhere to be seen, and for once I was glad. Don't get me wrong, Tracy was great, but I didn't want to see another disappointed face. All I wanted at that moment was to retreat to my bedroom and not see another human being for a while. But it was the _Dumping Ground; _that was never going to happen. I got out of the car, and marched up to the door, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. Gina didn't move from where she was standing in the doorway, and so stopped me from storming inside.

"Storm, babe," She whispered.

"What?" I snapped, looking up at the care worker, my anger evaporating when I saw the worried look on her face. Gina sighed, and placed her hand on the small of my back. Silently, she pushed me gently forwards towards the office.

"Gina, what's going on?" I asked, confused. She didn't answer. I glanced back at Liam who raised his eyebrows in an "I know as much as you do" way. Shaking my head, I stalked into the office, quickly followed by Mike and Gina.

"Liam, no, you can't come in! We need to talk to Storm, mate. Don't worry," I heard Mike's say, his accent soft, before closing the door on Liam's protests.

"Well?" I drawled, collapsing into one of the swivel chairs, stretching out my legs and resting my feet on Tracy's desk. Gina immediately slapped them away. Mike took a deep breath, before saying,

"This morning, there was a fire at Burney wood."

I snorted. "Someone finally do what I've always wanted to do! Good on 'em!" Ha! Someone had finally had the nerve to try and get rid of the hell hole. Whoever it was, I saluted them.

"Storm," Gina warned.

"Sorry," I muttered. "Well is that all you wanted to tell me? Or is there something else?" The two exchanged a nervous glance.

"Well?" I demanded, getting annoyed now. What were they hiding from me? They didn't just call me in to talk about my old home. Why were they looking so nervous?

"Some of the children have been moved here," Mike whispered. It took a second to sink in, but when it did…

_No… _"Not? N-n-not _her?" _I gasped. "They can't have! She can't be here! No …" Were they insane? The person who wanted me _dead _was _here? _In a place I thought was safe? I shot up out of the chair, and bolted out of the office, ignoring Mike's desperate yells. Liam stood outside the door, and had obviously been listening in.

"Who is? Who's here?" he asked frantically, but I pushed past him. "Storm?"

_Not her. Not her. Please don't let it be her._ My head was spinning and I vaguely processed the fact that a tear was falling down my cheek. The person who had sat by, laughing while her older sister tried to kill me was here. And Mike and Gina had allowed it.

I pulled open the doors to the living room, to see _her _sitting on the sofa, looking as if butter wouldn't melt, all sugar and spice and all things nice. Only I knew her inner evil, and in this case, no, evil is not too strong. In my opinion, she should be sharing a cell with her sister. Blonde hair cascading over her shoulders, blue eyes big and wide, wearing her flowery dresses. Lizanne.

"Hello Storm," she simpered. I glared at her, making my way over to the pool table on which Carmen and Tee were sitting. Johnny, Frank and Toby were all crowded around her, clearly infatuated. Two other boys I didn't recognise were sitting on the sofa opposite, but I didn't take any notice of them. If Lizanne was anything like her sister, it wouldn't be too long before all of their money was gone. Let them fall for it.

"Lizzie," I greeted, knowing how much it annoyed her, and inwardly smiling when she shot daggers at me. Lizanne wouldn't be able to keep this sweet little girly act for long; I would see to that. "I hear someone burned down Burneywood. You wouldn't have anything to do with that now, would ya?"

"Me?" she gasped, as if shocked by the even notion. "I've changed Storm. I'm not like my sister."

I snorted. "Sure (!) Give her my regards when you see her next, eh?"

Lizanne looked confused. "I'm not allowed to see her."

I smiled sweetly. "I meant, when you and her are cellmates."

"Storm! That's enough," Mike boomed, from the doorway. Gina and Liam were standing behind him: Liam looking confused at the whole situation and Gina just looking… sad. I looked away quickly; I couldn't stand the thought of someone feeling sorry for me. Especially a care worker.

"Fine!" I snapped. "But know this, that girl is pure evil!" All of the other kids were staring now, and Gus was scribbling furiously in his notebook.

"How do you spell your name?" he piped up, pointing his pen at Lizanne.

"E-V-I-L," I answered for her. Gus frowned.

"That spells evil?" he murmured. I smirked, before glancing over at the two boys in the corner of the room.

"Dunno how you put up with her," I commented, before sauntering out of the room. Before I was out of earshot, I swear I heard one of them mutter, "Trust me, it's no picnic."

Smiling sadly, I made my way up the stairs, and into my room. I had painted the room dark purple, and strung fairy lights over the walls that emitted a soft glow. The walls were covered in posters for bands: Muse, Panic! At the Disco, McFly and Paramore, as well as the classic Green Day. The room was my haven, a quiet place away from the rest of the kids. I switched on my iPod and speakers and set it to shuffle, before turning the volume down so that the music was thumping quietly.

I sat down on my bed, placing my head in my hands. Why was she here? Someone must really hate me, to place me in the same house as the person who blamed me for her sister being sent down.

I heard a soft knocking at the door.

"Go away!" I yelled, throwing a pillow at the door.

"It's me, Liam," A voice called softly.

"Oh. Come in then," I sighed. The door creaked open, to reveal a very worried looking Liam. He came in and sat beside me. I refused to look at him, instead played with a thread poking out of my hoodie. We spent a few minutes in comfortable silence, before Liam asked the inevitable.

"Who is she Storm?"

I sighed quietly. "You might as well know what happened when I was at Burneywood. You're bound to find out sooner or later. But it ain't pretty," I warned him.

"Go on."

I took a deep breath and began my story.

**A/N: This part of the story will vaguely follow the episode "Slow Burn". I know I said that it wouldn't, but this part is kinda important. I know it doesn't make much sense at the moment, but keep with me. I will try to avoid doing this in future chapters, but I am literally going where the story takes me, so we'll see. xx**


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